“The authors I really like, I’m not sure if they’re directly represented on the album, maybe indirectly, yes. But I would say they are Jorge Amado, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jorge Luis Borges. I’m a fan of magical realism, I think that’s in the album, this way of playing with simple and true phrases and fantastic images. While I was composing, I read a lot of Todas As Letras (2022), in which Gil comments on his compositions,” Rubel told Noize.

We asked the artist to recommend books by great authors that inspired him in composing the tracks for Beleza. Mas agora a gente faz o que com isso?, issue #100 of NRC, or that were essential in his development. You can check out the recommendations exclusively here in the subscriber area.

The Aleph (1949)
Jorge Luis Borges

One of the most famous collections of short stories by the Argentinian writer (also known for the classic Ficciones, from 1944). In this work, Borges blurs the boundaries between literature and philosophy, in a kind of essayistic prose, in which language itself is the central point of the narrative.

Ogum's Godfather (1964)
Jorge Amado

In this work, one of the greatest novelists of the second generation of Brazilian modernism, author of titles such as Terras do Sem-fim (1943), addresses the dilemmas faced by Massu when baptizing his son, living between the Catholic faith and Candomblé.

Diseases of Brazil (2021)
Walter Hugo Mother

The author is one of the most renowned writers in the Portuguese language today. In this title, his first set in Brazil, the writer reconstructs the colonial period from an indigenous perspective and with language full of lyricism.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A leading figure in magical realism and the boom of Latin American literature in the second half of the 20th century, the Colombian author (known for classics such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, 1967) presents in this account, which blends fictional narrative with journalistic form, a reconstruction of the murder of Santiago Nasar.

All the lyrics (2022)
Gilberto Gil

The book brings together the lyrics of the Bahian composer, one of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, with his own commentary on his ideas and creative context. Organized by Carlos Rennó, the work highlights the lyrical and intellectual quality of Gil's work.

Sad isn't quite the right word. (2023)
Gabriel Abreu

The most recent book on the list, the debut novel by the Rio de Janeiro author tells the story of a son who, about to lose his mother, begins to rummage through her files, seeking to understand the woman who raised him, resulting in a puzzle of his own subjectivity.